Basingstoke & Dean Borough Council
Councillors:
54
Wards:
18
Committees:
22
Meetings (2025):
67
Meetings (2024):
72
Meeting
Standards Committee - Basingstoke & Dean
Meeting Times
Scheduled Time
Start:
Monday, 14th March 2022
6:30 PM
Monday, 14th March 2022
6:30 PM
End:
Monday, 14th March 2022
10:30 PM
Monday, 14th March 2022
10:30 PM
Actual Time
Started:
Monday, 14th March 2022
12:00 AM
Monday, 14th March 2022
12:00 AM
Finished:
Monday, 14th March 2022
12:00 AM
Monday, 14th March 2022
12:00 AM
Meeting Status
Status:
Confirmed
Confirmed
Date:
14 Mar 2022
14 Mar 2022
Location:
Council Chamber - Deanes
Council Chamber - Deanes
Webcast:
Available
Available
Meeting Attendees
Committee Member
Mr M Slatford (Parish Councillor)
Present, as expected
Committee Member
Mrs J Slimin (Town Councillor)
Apologies
Committee Member
Cabinet Member for Communities, Partnerships and Inclusion
Reserve
Leader
Chair
Ms V Murricane (Independent Standards Assessor)
Present, as expected
Committee Member
Mrs L Agnew (Parish Councillor)
Present, as expected
Committee Member
Chair of the Investigating and Disciplinary and Standards Appeals Committee
Committee Member
Ms A Orchard (Independent Standards Assessor)
Apologies
Committee Member
Ms C Proctor (Independent Standards Assessor)
Apologies
Agenda
1
Apologies for absence and substitutions
Minutes
Apologies were received from J Slimin
Apologies were received from C Proctor
Apologies were received from Amanda Orchard
Apologies were received from L Fryer
Councillor McKay was replaced by Councillor Hussy
Apologies were received from C Proctor
Apologies were received from Amanda Orchard
Apologies were received from L Fryer
Councillor McKay was replaced by Councillor Hussy
2
Declarations of interest
Minutes
There were no declarations of interest.
3
Urgent matters
To consider any items of business, other than those shown on this agenda and which, by reason of special circumstances to be stated at the meeting, in the opinion of the Chairman, should be considered at the meeting as a matter of urgency.
Minutes
There were no urgent items.
4
Minutes of the meeting held on the 15th November 2021
The Chair will move that the minutes of the meeting be signed as a correct record. The only part of the minutes that can be discussed is their accuracy.
Attachments:
- Document Minutes of the meeting held on the 15th November 2021 01 Mar 2022
Minutes
The minutes of the meeting held on 15 November 2021 were confirmed by the committee as a correct record and signed by the Chair.
5
Complaints Update Report
This report seeks to update the Committee on progress in determining Code of Conduct complaints received against borough, parish and town councillors.
Contact Officer: Fiona Thomsen
Contact Officer: Fiona Thomsen
Attachments:
- Document Complaints Update Report 01 Mar 2022
- Document Appendix 1 for Complaints Update Report Complaints Record 01 Mar 2022
Minutes
The Monitoring Officer introduced the report which updated the committee on progress in determining Code of Conduct complaints received against borough, parish and town councillors.
It was confirmed that there had been seven new complaints received since the November meeting.
Resolved: the Committeenotes the report.
It was confirmed that there had been seven new complaints received since the November meeting.
Resolved: the Committeenotes the report.
6
Annual Report
This report seeks the Committee’s approval to its Annual Report.
Contact Officer: Fiona Thomsen
Contact Officer: Fiona Thomsen
Attachments:
- Document Annual Report 01 Mar 2022
- Document Annual Appendix 1 01 Mar 2022
Minutes
The committee received the annual report which summarised the main areas of work of the committee over the past year and reported upon the annual number of complaints received and the determination or dismissal of the complaints.
The report also detailed the committee’s consideration of Local Government Association’s new Model Code of Conduct; social media guidance for councillors, and the recruitment of a new Independent Person and new Independent Standards Assessor.
The committee discussed the report and asked that the following amendments be made in the published annual report:
Express the committees thanks to Chris Evans.
The term Councillor be used throughout the document to ensure that it is consistent.
Resolved: the Committee
· Approve the Annual Report for publication in the form appended in appendix 1
· Recommend its presentation to Council for consideration
The report also detailed the committee’s consideration of Local Government Association’s new Model Code of Conduct; social media guidance for councillors, and the recruitment of a new Independent Person and new Independent Standards Assessor.
The committee discussed the report and asked that the following amendments be made in the published annual report:
Express the committees thanks to Chris Evans.
The term Councillor be used throughout the document to ensure that it is consistent.
Resolved: the Committee
· Approve the Annual Report for publication in the form appended in appendix 1
· Recommend its presentation to Council for consideration
7
Review of Arrangements for Dealing With Complaints Against Councillors
This report outlines issues to be considered in the review of the Arrangements for dealing with Complaints against Councillors (“the Arrangements”) and provides a draft new process for consideration and referral to the Constitution Working Group.
Contact Officer: Fiona Thomsen
Contact Officer: Fiona Thomsen
Attachments:
- Document Review of Arrangements for Dealing with Complaints Against Councillors Report 01 Mar 2022
- Document Review of Arrangements for Dealing with Complaints Against Councillors Apppendix 1 01 Mar 2022
- Document Review of Arrangements for Dealing with Complaints Against Councillors Apppendix 2 01 Mar 2022
Minutes
The Monitoring Officer introduced thereport which outlined issues to be considered in the review of the Arrangements for dealing with Complaints against Councillors (“the Arrangements”) and provided a draft new process for consideration and referral to the Constitution Working Group.
The Local Government Association (LGA) published in September 2021 useful guidance on handling of complaints against members. It was entitled Guidance on Member Model Code of Conduct Complaints Handling (“the Complaints Guidance”). That review had taken account of this guidance.
The Monitoring Officer referred to the comments made by the Independent Persons on the proposed revision that were sent out to the committee prior to the meeting for their consideration.
The Monitoring Officer advised the proposed main changes as follows:
Proposed to reduce the current 3 stage process to 2, so that the first and second stage of the current arrangements are combined to form the new first stage initial assessment. That would enable a clearer process to establish whether the criteria at 4.5 were met to justify the complaint and if so whether the complaint should be investigated. Most cases should be able to be resolved informally.
· The revised Arrangements had been updated so it was clear that decisions were made by Monitoring Officer/Deputy Monitoring Officer as the person with delegated authority with advice from the Independent Standards Assessor (ISA) or I Independent Person (IP) as appropriate.
· Other than a decision of a Hearing Panel it was proposed that for fairness the outcome of other decisions made by the MO/DMO are by way of a summary of the complaint and published on the council’s website without identifying information unless there has been a breach found.
· There was no right of appeal for the complainant or subject member against a decision of the Monitoring Officer, the Standards Committee or the Hearing Panel at any stage of this process. If the complainant believed that the authority had failed to deal with the complaint properly, they might wish to make a complaint to the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman.
· The Hearing Panel would be a sub-committee of the Standards Committee composed of three Borough Councillors [should there be parish/town council representation if appropriate and/or independent element – only the Borough Councillors have voting rights].
The Committee discussed the report and made the following comments:
· Concern was expressed that if a complaint was made to the Ombudsman their remit would be to establish whether the process had been dealt with properly and would not review the outcome of the decision.
· It was felt that the names of the person identified in the complaint regardless of the outcome should be published on the website in case there was a history of complaints against them. That would also give the public information which could be relevant when voting for elected Council Members or Parish/Town Councillors.
· As the information of the person who had a complaint made against them would be retained by the Monitoring Officer. Those process was considered sufficient and could be referred to when dealing further complaints against the same individual.
· Concern was raised that by publishing all the names on the website regardless of the outcome it could have a detrimental impact both personally and professionally especially if that person had been targeted due to a vendetta.
· The issue was to whether publishing all names was fair to everyone or should it just be the people who had been found to have breached the code of conduct.
· Every complaint made should be investigated fully and only the people that had breached the code of conduct should have their names published.
· Suggested that statistical information be provided to advise at what level complaints were dismissed and historical data of repeated harassment complaints.
· Concern that by publishing names regardless of the outcome it could affect people wanting to become a Parish Councillor due to damage to an individual’s reputation.
· Ability to deal with complaints in an informal way at an early stage due to minor errors would be more beneficial for a Parish Councillor. It was also suggested that the provision of education to that individual would be of great value.
· It was requested that all Parish Councillors should be offered training on the Code of Conduct.
· In conclusion the Committee agreed with the change that unless a breach was found the individual’s name would not be published on the council’s website.
· Agreed with the reduction of the 3 stage process to a 2 stage process to expedite the procedure.
· Agreed with the no right of appeal for the complainant or subject member against a decision at any stage of the process. If the complainant believed that the authority has failed to deal with the complaint properly, they could contact the Ombudsman.
Resolved: the Committee
· Provide its views on the proposed changes to the Arrangements for dealing with complaints against Councillors as set out in the appendices.
· Subject to amendments recommended by the Committee, to refer the amended version of the Arrangements to the Constitution Working Group to consider as part of the constitutional review
The Local Government Association (LGA) published in September 2021 useful guidance on handling of complaints against members. It was entitled Guidance on Member Model Code of Conduct Complaints Handling (“the Complaints Guidance”). That review had taken account of this guidance.
The Monitoring Officer referred to the comments made by the Independent Persons on the proposed revision that were sent out to the committee prior to the meeting for their consideration.
The Monitoring Officer advised the proposed main changes as follows:
Proposed to reduce the current 3 stage process to 2, so that the first and second stage of the current arrangements are combined to form the new first stage initial assessment. That would enable a clearer process to establish whether the criteria at 4.5 were met to justify the complaint and if so whether the complaint should be investigated. Most cases should be able to be resolved informally.
· The revised Arrangements had been updated so it was clear that decisions were made by Monitoring Officer/Deputy Monitoring Officer as the person with delegated authority with advice from the Independent Standards Assessor (ISA) or I Independent Person (IP) as appropriate.
· Other than a decision of a Hearing Panel it was proposed that for fairness the outcome of other decisions made by the MO/DMO are by way of a summary of the complaint and published on the council’s website without identifying information unless there has been a breach found.
· There was no right of appeal for the complainant or subject member against a decision of the Monitoring Officer, the Standards Committee or the Hearing Panel at any stage of this process. If the complainant believed that the authority had failed to deal with the complaint properly, they might wish to make a complaint to the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman.
· The Hearing Panel would be a sub-committee of the Standards Committee composed of three Borough Councillors [should there be parish/town council representation if appropriate and/or independent element – only the Borough Councillors have voting rights].
The Committee discussed the report and made the following comments:
· Concern was expressed that if a complaint was made to the Ombudsman their remit would be to establish whether the process had been dealt with properly and would not review the outcome of the decision.
· It was felt that the names of the person identified in the complaint regardless of the outcome should be published on the website in case there was a history of complaints against them. That would also give the public information which could be relevant when voting for elected Council Members or Parish/Town Councillors.
· As the information of the person who had a complaint made against them would be retained by the Monitoring Officer. Those process was considered sufficient and could be referred to when dealing further complaints against the same individual.
· Concern was raised that by publishing all the names on the website regardless of the outcome it could have a detrimental impact both personally and professionally especially if that person had been targeted due to a vendetta.
· The issue was to whether publishing all names was fair to everyone or should it just be the people who had been found to have breached the code of conduct.
· Every complaint made should be investigated fully and only the people that had breached the code of conduct should have their names published.
· Suggested that statistical information be provided to advise at what level complaints were dismissed and historical data of repeated harassment complaints.
· Concern that by publishing names regardless of the outcome it could affect people wanting to become a Parish Councillor due to damage to an individual’s reputation.
· Ability to deal with complaints in an informal way at an early stage due to minor errors would be more beneficial for a Parish Councillor. It was also suggested that the provision of education to that individual would be of great value.
· It was requested that all Parish Councillors should be offered training on the Code of Conduct.
· In conclusion the Committee agreed with the change that unless a breach was found the individual’s name would not be published on the council’s website.
· Agreed with the reduction of the 3 stage process to a 2 stage process to expedite the procedure.
· Agreed with the no right of appeal for the complainant or subject member against a decision at any stage of the process. If the complainant believed that the authority has failed to deal with the complaint properly, they could contact the Ombudsman.
Resolved: the Committee
· Provide its views on the proposed changes to the Arrangements for dealing with complaints against Councillors as set out in the appendices.
· Subject to amendments recommended by the Committee, to refer the amended version of the Arrangements to the Constitution Working Group to consider as part of the constitutional review
8
Review of Work Programme
The committee is asked to note and review its Work Programme.
Attachments:
- Document Standards Committee Work Programme 2022/2023 01 Mar 2022
Minutes
The committee reviewed and agreed its work programme with the following comments:-
· Training to be provided to Parish/Town Councillors on the Code of Conduct. The method of training to be established but potentially by an e-learning module. An update on the Code of Conduct Training to be given at the July Committee Meeting.
· The LGA training pack to be circulated to all Members of the Committee.
District Association appoints their representatives in June for a year, but as selection at the Borough Council happens in May, a month earlier, those representatives are not appointed by BDBC Council until the following May. It would be helpful to review the current appointment process.
The meeting ended at 7.45 pm.
Chair
· Training to be provided to Parish/Town Councillors on the Code of Conduct. The method of training to be established but potentially by an e-learning module. An update on the Code of Conduct Training to be given at the July Committee Meeting.
· The LGA training pack to be circulated to all Members of the Committee.
District Association appoints their representatives in June for a year, but as selection at the Borough Council happens in May, a month earlier, those representatives are not appointed by BDBC Council until the following May. It would be helpful to review the current appointment process.
The meeting ended at 7.45 pm.
Chair
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